The innocent majority are also the passive majority

I found this (unfortunately rude click baity title) link earlier today and have been thinking about it a lot!

While I think the handling of the question in the video was rather harsh, the panelist makes an excellent point about the fact that the "innocent majority" is irrelevant in discussions about terrorism.

But it also led me to think about the examples she mentioned in various historical settings. The "innocent" are also the passive.

Does not participating in evil mean we are innocent of it if we do nothing about preventing it?


http://jewtube.tv/israel-conflict/brigitte-gabriels-answer-will-shut-every-muslim-world/

Wow that was... intense to say the very least.

Geez she fired on all barrels!
Makes me wanna switch into a Yoda voice...

Learn from the past we can, avoid the same mistakes true it is, but learn new ones we must <wiggle stick>, for the future, hope we offer.

:lol:

Brenna wrote: Does not participating in evil mean we are innocent of it if we do nothing about preventing it?

theres a point where the answer is obviously - or at least probably YES

but also a point where its probably NO

just where the lines are i am not sure

if i take responsibility for combating all the evil in the world i wont have any time left for videogames or youtube

and i will probably die not much older than however old i was when i started

but your question and something Khaos said in another topic brings a question to my mind, although im not the first to mention it

i dont have the influence to pick up the phone and have a conversation that will result in any kind of policy change or political initiative

i am, beyond a certain level, quite powerless

as jedi, is there a level of cultural influence/power that we should actively pursue?

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

I saw somewhere that the CIA estimate that ISIS' numbers are about 35000 (Don't quote me on that, I'm no expert). If we did something, perhaps such a small group would not be so successful in their endeavors...

I admire the line about throwing political correctness into the garbage. Especially in the U.S., we are so afraid of offending anyone that we are reduced to tolerating intolerance. As Jedi we cultivate empathy, love, and compassion but we are also guardians of peace because everyone on this world has a right to live.
Anybody that threatens that peace and believes that any life is lesser than another has obviously missed the bus. When those pitiful souls refuse to let peaceful people live in peace then are truly lost. That is the time when peaceful majority should become relevant and face thier demons. When that time comes, I will gladly stand with them.
"In times of war prepare for peace, in time of peace prepare for war." Sun Tzu

To my view, the majority be peaceful is irrelevant because it does not really fight a war only with weapons, but with ideologies. Hitler united Germany on the pretext of creating a sovereign nation, strong and powerful; a government of the people and by the people, if you hear any talk of him for GERMAN PEOPLE , will see that their ideas were not bad and that his intentions toward GERMANS were good and see what resulted. Genocide. When people buy an idea is difficult to get it out of their head. In Japan for example, some people don't believe that Japan lost World War II and still use the flag of ancient Japan and sing the national anthem before the war; the idea was so rooted in their hearts that it is hard to believe that this reality has changed.
This is sure to be a third world war, the world versus terrorism ... and what is terrorism? An idea. And how to fight something that is intangible? Do not struggle so there are still Nazis around the world.

War fighting has rules, its called the law or war. If nations must fight, they try to adhere to those laws/rules. One of them is to avoid or at least minimize as much as practical civilian damage, injury or death. Terrorism flies directly in the face of that and specifically targets civilians. I reckon it is going to be impossible to stop 'terrorism', as most organized crime could be called terrorism under some definitions of the word... but specific groups rallying under specific causes can be targeted.

Unfortunately the concept of the successfully expanding Islamic Caliphate has a long history, and might continue to do so. The problem would seem to be that Western law and Sharia law might not be compatible - so to put things in simple terms we might need to do a comparative analysis of those 2 types of law and see if anything can be mediated which might be acceptable to both sides so they can move forward without the need to break one to follow the other. Until then, people playing by different rules are going to bash heads and disagree on fundamentals, so conflict at the most mundane levels probably exist in this regard even within the innocent majorities of both sides.

wow! Thanks.

OB1Shinobi wrote: if i take responsibility for combating all the evil in the world i wont have any time left for videogames or youtube

i dont have the influence to pick up the phone and have a conversation that will result in any kind of policy change or political initiative

i am, beyond a certain level, quite powerless

as jedi, is there a level of cultural influence/power that we should actively pursue?

Firstly.... lol

And second, you're right, you don't have the power to create vast political change.

But what CAN you do? You can educate yourself on the issues, you can educate others. You can do what you are able within your own sphere of influence to cultivate tolerance and peace and help people see the real enemy. You can support others who are taking initiative or also helping to foster peace and tolerance. And above all, action at whatever level you can. Its a war of both ideology and combat. Let those who can deal with combat do their thing, and everyone else contribute to a change in ideology.


The thing about the [strike]innocent[/strike] passive majority is that they wring their hands and say 'But i don't have the influence to do anything"